


Coffee Shop Sweetheart

by chairmancatsby



Series: 12 Days of MaleChristmas [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Cafe AU, Fluff, M/M, flirty Magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 01:09:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13135995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chairmancatsby/pseuds/chairmancatsby
Summary: Alec liked routines. So when he found a nice coffee shop that sold good Mocha made by a really hot barista, he decided to start visiting it every day. He mostly went there for the sake of keeping to his routine and the coffee, not for the barista, definitely not the barista.





	Coffee Shop Sweetheart

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas! Starting from today, I'll be posting a Christmas-themed (kind of...?) fic every day as part of my own challenge '12 Days of Christmas'! This fic is actually set in Alec's last dream in [Sweet Dreams, Sleepy Angel](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13111812), but you don't have to read that to understand this.
> 
> Tweet me at [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chairmancatsby) if you enjoyed this. I was thinking of trying a hashtag but I don't think I'll get any so I'm just gonna avoid disappointment :'D
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> xoxo  
> Trix

It was the fourteenth day in a row that Alec had been to the same coffee shop at the exact same time. As he stared at the chalkboard standing outside the quaint little café, he contemplated leaving, starting to find himself ridiculous with the way he was acting. He wasn’t actually reading what was the special of the day – he never did. All he was doing was merely looking at the colourful drawings on the board of snowmen and snowflakes to pass the time. At 3:15 pm sharp, he would inhale deeply, breathing out the cool winter air before pushing open the door, hearing the familiar bell chimes introducing a new customer, and wait for a voice to greet him.

“Good afternoon, Alexander.”

There it was.

“Magnus,” Alec greeted with a nod as he walked over to the counter, acting like he hadn’t been standing outside the coffee shop for the past ten minutes.

There was a knowing smirk on Magnus’ face as Alec approached him. The barista had caught Alec waiting outside a week ago and had been bewildered as to why the other had not gone in. Alec being Alec, had told him that he had wanted to go in at the same time every day without much thought. It was an awkward and embarrassing, mostly for Alec because Magnus had simply shrugged and had gone back to work before Alec had even realised what he had said. They both never mentioned it again.

The look on Magnus’ face was infuriating as it was attractive and Alec didn’t know what to feel.

“Mocha?” Magnus asked, a teasing smile tugging at his lips and Alec had to try very hard not to twitch his eyes at how Magnus was mocking him.

“Mocha,” Alec repeated, for the fourteenth time in fourteen days because he really had no idea what else was on the menu and Mocha was easy to say.

“In a takeaway paper cup?” Magnus prompted, his eyes glistening with mischief, a stark contrast to the dreary look in Alec’s hazel eyes.

Flashing a fake smile, Alec nodded enthusiastically before rolling his eyes as he paid the exact amount before waiting at the side. He could hear Magnus humming from where he was standing and he really thought that the barista should consider becoming a singer. His voice was just so sweet, so soothing, and so melodious. Just so damn se –

“Snap out of it, pretty boy.”

Magnus’ voice broke Alec out of his reverie, causing him to blush furiously because he was most definitely not thinking about how _sexy_ the barista’s voice was.

Said barista was currently looking at him with the most infuriating look ever. “Your drink.” Pushing the cup towards Alec, Magnus beamed.

Grouchily, Alec accepted the paper cup, taking it by its holder and trying his very best to squish the squirmy feeling in his stomach as he caught bits of a message on the side of the cup. He wasn’t going to read the note in front of Magnus and embarrass himself.

Bringing his drink to his usual table – the second one on the right next to the window – Alec settled down and made himself comfortable before taking out his laptop, readying himself to get to work. But before that, there was something he needed to do first. There was a message on the paper cup written in black ink and the familiar elegant penmanship of the barista and it was just right in front of Alec. He could easily read it but knowing how shameless Magnus was with his compliments, Alec was certain that his brain would short-circuit for a few moments after reading the message. It was fine actually because it had happened before but that day, Magnus was blatantly staring at him that Alec couldn’t bring himself to read it.

Raising his head, Alec met Magnus’ eyes as the barista openly grinned back at him, not even trying to conceal the fact that he was observing Alec.

Fighting down a blush, Alec rolled his eyes before motioning his left hand towards the counter – his way of telling Magnus to get back to work.

The barista’s eyes widened before he pouted and let his shoulders fall as he got back to work, taking a tablecloth from next to the cashier and he started to wipe down the counter.

Now could Alec finally read the note. Under the pretence of waiting for his laptop to start up, Alec looked around the shop nonchalantly and made sure that Magnus was busy doing his own work before he picked up the paper cup and turned it so that the side with the message would be facing him.

 _“I think the colour green suits you”_ with a winking face at the back.

That was…normal.

So normally _sweet_ that it made Alec double check the colour of his sweater which was a dark green. It was a gift from his younger sister, Isabelle, last Christmas and he had only taken it out a few days ago, almost a year later. Maybe he should start wearing the clothes Isabelle had given him more often, seeing that they looked good on him. Not that he didn’t trust Isabelle’s taste in clothes but sometimes her choice for him was just way too adventurous. This green sweater was one of the less scandalous ones.

Suddenly realising that he was staring at the paper cup for too long, Alec quickly placed it down and looked around the café fearfully in case anyone had been watching. When Alec saw that everyone was minding their own business, he almost sighed in relief. Almost because there was an annoying snigger coming from the counter.

Whipping his head to the side, Alec found Magnus talking to another barista who had a frown on his face. Alec remembered the other barista as the “glum one” because he simply seemed dull in comparison to Magnus’ ray of sunlight. His name was probably “Raph” or “Raven” or something like that.

That didn’t matter at that moment. What mattered was that Magnus hadn’t seen him gone all heart-shaped eyes at the message on the paper cup and Alec’s dignity was saved.

Unaware that he was still staring at Magnus, Alec slowly drank in the way Magnus looked, with his hair pushed back and spiked up, its ends painted a deep blue. How his eyelids were dusted a shade of purple and his eyes lined with black, sparkling at the edges. He looked beautiful. Alec sighed to himself.

Suddenly, Magnus’ eyes met his and realisation dawned on Alec that he had been ogling at Magnus for the past five minutes or so. He ducked his head down to face his computer screen, busying himself by typing rubbish into the search bar, but not before he saw a smile on Magnus’ face. A small smile was tugging on the corner of Alec’s lips as well.

 

When Alec went back to the café the next day and walked in at exactly 3:15 pm, no one greeted him using his full name and it was just a normal “welcome” from an overly-enthusiastic staff with fiery red hair and an all-blinding smile. The person at the counter was no Magnus and she definitely was the type of person that Alec couldn’t handle being around.

For the sake of his sanity, Alec began backtracking his steps, but the girl at the counter noticed and her face fell at once.

Groaning internally, Alec took in a deep breath and walked towards the cashier, watching the girl’s expression morph into one of delight.

“What can I get you?” she asked chirpily.

Alec read her nametag – _Clary_ it said. She must be new because Alec had never seen her around before. At the thought of her being Magnus’ replacement, Alec’s stomach dropped. Did café staff members get replaced so easily?

“Latte. Hot,” Alec said, guessing that there was definitely such a drink on the menu. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t just go with his usual ‘mocha’. Maybe it had something to do with Magnus not being the one taking his order.

“Can I have your name, please?” Clary requested politely, her tone friendly.

“Alec.”

Nodding, Clary scribbled something onto the paper mug in her hand as she hummed softly to a Christmas song which sounded vaguely like Frosty the Snowman to Alec’s ears. And not for the first time, Alec wondered why the baristas who worked there didn’t ever ask their customers if they would like their drink in a mug.

“Wait at the side, Alec,” Clary said with a grin and Alec laughed dryly before moving to the side.

 

Alec had left the café earlier than his usual time that day, finding his time there rather unproductive as he couldn’t write more than a few sentences of his story.

Sighing, he kicked off his shoes at the door before making his way over to his couch to flop onto it.

As he lied there, he played with his phone while wondering where Magnus could have gone today.

Suddenly remembering that he had Magnus’ number in the device that was in his hands, Alec stilled for a moment before pushing himself up to stare at his phone. Would texting Magnus seem desperate? Weird? Stalker-ish?

After an intense internal debate, Alec concluded that there was no harm in sending out a simple text message.

_From: Alec  
To: Magnus_

_Didn’t see you in the café today_.

There, short and sweet, and cringe-worthy. Alec winced as he read the message he had just sent out over and over again, wondering why he would type something like that. Pondering if he could edit the text message before Magnus read it, Alec decided not to because that would seem too suspicious, especially if Magnus could see that it was an edited text.

His phone rang a few seconds later, notifying him of a new message and he jumped in surprise before hastily unlocking his phone.

_From: Magnus  
To: Alec_

_Did you miss me?_

Below the text message was a winking face that made Alec flush to the tip of his ears and he chided himself for being so affected so easily. At a loss for what to reply, Alec just stared at his phone. He was saved by another message that came in shortly after.

_From: Magnus  
To: Alec_

_Anything I can help you with, darling?_

There was that pet name that Alec had grown to love so much. Covering his face with his left hand, Alec proceeded to type a coherent reply with his right fingers. He wasn’t really aware of what he was typing until he sent it out. Blinking at the message, Alec groaned loudly and threw his phone aside, burying his face in both his hands.

_From: Alec  
To: Magnus_

_I want your work schedule_

His phone rang from the couch but Alec was too mortified by himself to pick it up. But he was curious and his curiosity would always be his downfall. Begrudgingly, Alec stretched out his hand for his phone and opened the message. It was a picture of the barista’s work schedule – colourful with stickers all around – making Alec. Below it was a caption which said _anything for you, darling_.

Alec wanted to die of embarrassment.

But he also wanted to see Magnus again and that was currently on the top of his priority list. Screw his novel. Screw his editor. Magnus was working tomorrow.

 

Maybe Alec was a little too eager to see Magnus again. After finding out the previous night that Magnus started work at 1 pm that day, Alec had found himself getting ready to leave his apartment at 12:30 pm. It was a short walk from his house to the café but better early than late or on time, right?

Walking into the café at 1 pm sharp, Alec was disappointed not to hear Magnus greeting him or see Magnus’ face at the counter. Instead, what he got was the glum barista with a scowl on his face. As soon as the dull-looking barista met his eyes, he scoffed and left his position at the cashier to go to the back.

Confused, Alec stopped in front of the cashier, waiting there until the barista came back.

“Give me a minute, Alexander!”

Alec heard Magnus’ voice coming from behind the doors and he blushed. His face grew redder when he saw that some customers were looking at him and two girls behind him were giggling.

After another few seconds (to Alec, it felt like hours) of standing awkwardly, Magnus finally appeared from behind the doors, his face beaming upon the sight of Alec’s face.

“What can I get for you, darling?”

“Mocha. Hot. In a paper mug,” Alec recited his order easily.

Magnus was already writing down his order before he was even done speaking, making Alec smile lopsidedly as he prepared the exact change for Magnus.

Wordlessly, Magnus took the notes and coins before gesturing for Alec to wait at the side.

There was something off about Magnus that Alec couldn’t quite place a finger on. Though before he could contemplate further, Magnus served his drink, smiling at him as he softly told Alec to enjoy his cup of mocha.

Taking the cup by its holder, Alec was about to make his way to his usual seat but it was already taken. Grimacing, he walked towards the table in front of it and dropped his bag on one of the seats before sitting down on one himself.

Turning to look at the cashier, Alec noted that Magnus was busy handling the customers and taking their orders so he wouldn’t be able to look at Alec as he read the message on the cup.

Smiling to himself, Alec shifted the cup and his smile widened when he saw black ink.

_I knock off at 8 today. Will you wait for me?_

Frowning, Alec looked at the other sides of the cup, wondering if there were any more messages but he couldn’t find anything. That was all Magnus had written. No smiley face even.

It was barely 1:30 pm, meaning that Alec still had over seven more hours to get through before Magnus’ shift ended. He could leave after finishing his mocha and went back to the café again later. Or he could simply reject Magnus. But as always, curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to meet Magnus, wondering what the other wanted to tell him. Sighing, Alec started up his laptop. He could work on that draft that was due next weekend. This was going to be a long day.

 

The next time Alec looked at the clock on his computer screen, it was already 7 pm. One more hour to go.

Cracking his knuckles, Alec looked at his laptop screen. The document that had been empty when he had sat down was now filled with thousands of words. Satisfied, he sat back and stared at the text cursor that was blinking back at him. It was oddly calming to watch that single black line appearing at regular intervals.

Alec had always liked order, the banality of everyday life, and the predictability in what was to come. That was why he liked knowing things, whether it affected him directly or not because then nothing could throw him off-track.

That was why when Alec saw Magnus walking towards him, he panicked. Because this wasn’t part of the plan.

“Give me about ten minutes,” Magnus said as soon as Alec was within earshot. “Told Raphael to cover my duties for the next hour and that I’m going to buy him a drink.”

The hazel-eyed man merely stared blankly into space and nodded as Magnus walked away.

This wasn’t right. Alec was supposed to have another hour to mentally prepare himself for having a real and actual conversation with the cute barista he had been crushing on for weeks. But it was also the same barista who was ruining his plan. All Alec could hope was that Magnus wasn’t the type of guy that Alec wasn’t good with.

Though honestly, from the way Magnus had been acting so far, with his flirty looks and his pick-up lines, he was most definitely the kind of man that Alec couldn’t deal with. Yet he still found himself crushing on the glittery barista hard.

He was so screwed.

True to his words, Magnus went back to the table about ten minutes later and all Alec had been doing in the meantime was to stare at the digital clock on his laptop screen.

“Shall we go?” Magnus asked happily, bouncing on the ball of his heels.

Nodding, Alec shut his laptop and tried to quiet the prudish part of his brain telling him that everything was happening an hour too quickly.

The pair left the café after Magnus bid his colleagues goodbye, a few of them had even given him thumbs up much to Alec’s dismay.

“I’m sorry about them,” Magnus said as soon as they left the front door.

“It’s okay,” Alec replied sincerely. “But what was it about?”

Chuckling nervously, Magnus stuffed his hands into his pocket. The weather was getting chillier as the days of December passed.

“Ever since you walked into the café, I wanted to get to know you.”

At Magnus’ confession, Alec almost slipped on the floor but he caught himself before he could embarrass himself. His face turned a bright red though.

“So my fellow workers said that I would never dare to ask you out and well, they’re kind of right. That’s why I always leave you all those messages.”

When Alec turned to look at Magnus, there was an uncertain look on his face and Alec wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that Magnus was everything a man like him could ever dream of. But he didn’t.

“You don’t do that to everyone?” The insecure part of Alec was coming out and it didn’t make a good first impression but he just had to ask it.

Suddenly, Magnus stopped in his tracks, making Alec stop as well as he turned to the barista.

Shaking his head, Magnus simply said, “I don’t, Alexander. It was only for you.”

“Oh,” Alec let out eloquently.

There was a moment of silence before Alec started walking again, Magnus falling into step next to him easily.

“I wanted to get to know you too,” Alec said softly.

For a while, Magnus didn’t say anything and Alec was afraid that he had said his words too softly but he didn’t want to say them again. Then Magnus finally said something and Alec relaxed instantly.

“I’m glad.”

The both of them continued walking in silence until Alec stopped next to an apartment complex. Smiling sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head as Magnus looked at him with a confused expression.

“I kind of just…walked you and myself home,” Alec admitted awkwardly.

Eyes widening slightly, Magnus looked to the building then at Alec before he broke out into a hearty laugh. “Already showing me where you live on our first date?” Magnus said before he could stop himself. But as soon as the words rolled out from his tongue, he promptly shut his mouth.

Laughing, Alec grinned at Magnus. “Let’s not get into that.”

“My bad,” Magnus apologised, raising his hands in shame.

“I’m going to go up now and wait for you to ask me out on a real proper date, okay?” With that, Alec began to walk away. As he walked towards the lift, he threw Magnus one last smile before entering it. Inside the lift, he was chuckling to himself at the stunned expression on Magnus’ face.

When the lift reached his floor, Alec was humming to a random Christmas tune. Alec didn’t usually hum but he was in a good mood. As he was opening his door, his phone chimed. Grinning, Alec took his time in unlocking the door and going inside. His previous urgency when it came to texting Magnus all gone.

Pulling out his phone only when he was lounging on his couch, Alec grinned at the notification from Magnus.

_From: Magnus  
To: Alec_

_This Friday, 5 pm. I’ll pick you up? :D_

Typing back a quick reply, Alec threw his phone aside and smiled, eager to see what Friday had in store for him.

_From: Alec  
To: Magnus_

_It’s a date_

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos, comments, and love are all appreciated! They mean a lot to me!
> 
> Talk to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chairmancatsby)! Or drop me more 5 + 1 prompts on [Tumblr](https://chairmancatsby.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> xoxo  
> Trix


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